Comprehension and forgiveness
by Tsukiai Ujigami
Summary: Inuyasha and company have lost Kagome in a previous battle. Inuyasha stresses of her whereabouts while a familiar priestess comes across Kagomes half dead body. What will be the outcome?


Haio fan fiction readers!

Tsukiai Ujigami here with my second fan fiction!

I'd like to note that this episode, or fan fiction, takes place after episodes 89 of Inuyasha "Nursing battle of the Rival lovers" , where Kagome falls ill with a cold and heads back to her own realm to recover, Inuyasha following. He brews up a medicine to make Kagome feel better, which it does, and stays in her realm for the night until she is better.

This is kinda a one-shot piece I wrote after watching a mushy / sad scene in Inuyasha box set 5, and this thought sprung up so I wrote it up. Hope you enjoy it! Please Read and Review (it makes me feel loved..!).

Enjoy!

-Tsukiai Ujigami

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"**Comprehension and forgiveness"**

**By Tsukiai Ujigami **

"Kagome!"

Inuyasha searched frantically about the debris of the village, over broken huts and traces of demon flesh.

"Damn it!" he vented, slamming his foot through a splinter of wood; he'd lost her.

"Inuyasha!"

The demon dog turned his head at Sango's call, his heart faulting as he saw only her and Miroku upon Kirara's back.

"No luck." Miroku said sadly as the feline placed her four paws firmly on the ground. "We can't find Kagome anywhere."

Inuyasha's heart fell further still as Shippo's tiny form popped up from behind the remains of a once-was-hut, shaking his head. "Me neither."

Inside, the half demon cursed himself; he'd let Kagome down again. He'd left her side too soon, and had left her vulnerable to any attack from behind.

"Damn it!" he repeated, snapping his head in the direction of the vermillion sunset. "Where did she go?"

Kikyo stared in mild curiosity at the weak figure before her; each expression of pain upon the girls features causing the only sound she made.

The priestess reached forward and placed a cool hand upon the sweat-covered brow of Kagome's, realizing she was producing a high fever.

Judging by the body language and the alarming bodily temperature rise; Kikyo decided Kagome's illness to be Severe Acute Respiration; something that would need treatment very quickly if she was to live.

"Inu… yasha…" Kagome breathed painfully, between half conscious and unconscious.

Kikyo made no response to this, but merely moved silently to the edge of the hut they were in and began to prepare the dried ingredients there for the antibiotics young Kagome would need.

She moved silently but quickly, keeping in mind that those who suffered S.A.R's rarely lived to the next day. Under these circumstances, Kikyo gave young Kagome until dawn; any longer and she would not survive.

As the dried ingredients boiled upon the fire, a thought crossed her mind; how did Kagome come across this infectious disease? If it was to be carried across on the wind, surely she would have come across more cases other than her? Something dark and wise told her this was no accident; it had been planned. The priestess left the ingredients to stew and moved back to the troubled figure beneath the blankets. Sa she raised Kagome's head gently, her hunch was proven correct; a stinger, from one of Naraku's poisonous insects no doubt, lay buried deep into the girl's skin at her neck. She pulled it out and immediately sensed the plague upon the stinger as it dispersed into a thin cloud of dust.

Naraku had wanted Kagome dead, but… why?

Sango sighed heavily, looking sadly at her loaf of cold bread.

Miroku returned her cry of despair through a look of sympathy and understanding towards her; they were both very worried.

Shippo sniffed at Sango's side, pools welling up below his glazed eyes. "I hope she's alright!"

"I'm pretty sure she will be Shippo." Miroku comforted. "Kagome is a strong character."  
He regretted deeply though, the tiny magnitude of hope behind his words.

Inuyasha sat upon a rock a fair distance from the dining group, his mind racing. He was sure that Kagome was alive; the blow from those demons wasn't enough to kill her… was it?

He growled at his lack of respect towards the girl; she wasn't that weak!

He cursed under his breath as the worry started to get to him, where could she have gone?!

Miroku set up a fire and he, Sango and Shippo lay to rest around the warmth, knowing that to search in the dark was a foolish and unwise move.

Inuyasha, however, remained alert; sniffing the air for some kind of clue. With the breeze thick with the scent of fresh human blood from their previous battle against the demon shower, it proved to be hard to puck up anything else.

Then, his nose picked up something familiar… bones of the dead… and graveyard soil… Kikyo! Inuyasha's heart jolted as the young priestesses scent washed lightly through the breeze… mingled with another… Kagome!!

Inuyasha leapt from the rock and out into the night, his nose now grasped on the right direction. "I'm coming Kagome!"

Kikyo's brew came to the boil and she removed it from the flames. She poured the thick mix into a wooded cup from the huts small supplies and moved over to Kagome once again.

The foul smell of the brew brought Kagome to her senses briefly, her eyelids fluttering painfully and quite confused at the situation. "Where… am… I…?"

Kikyo was surprised to see Kagome awake, let alone talking in the state she was in, but held a calm expression. "A place of refuge not too far from the village of Kigen-Moku, I happened to stumble upon you half dead."

A short jolt of shock ran through Kagome's weak body, but her features allowed for no such reaction on the outside. "Where's… Inu… yasha?"

"I suspect he'll be on his way looking for you now, but I doubt it shall be anytime soon he shall find us; the air is thick with the smell of blood."

Kagome grunted as a wave of pain shot through her limbs, opening her eyes to Kikyo's offer of the foul smelling medicine. "Drink this; it'll help bring down the fever."

Something in that foul scent stirred something in Kagome's weak mind, but could not grasp it. With her last ounce of strength, she raised herself, took the cup, and sipped the brew.

She coughed as she realized the taste of the medicine was worse than the smell.

Suddenly a thick wave of shock ran through her body, this time strong enough to show upon her features as realization hit her; this was the same brew Inuyasha had brought to her realm when she was bedridden with a high fever. She recalled the hesitation in his answer to her question of how he had come across the fast-working mix. "My... ah... mother used to make it."

Kagome's pupils darted to the priestess beside her; it was Kikyo who had made it for him all those years.

Kagome raised the cup again, trying to cover up her sudden hesitation. Why had Inuyasha lied to her?

Kikyo watch quietly as Kagome finished the medicine, fully aware of the sudden shock upon the girl's face. She took the empty cup silently and moved back to the brew as Kagome lay down to rest, wondering what could have caused her pulse of shock.

Kikyo's ears suddenly pricked and her senses stirred as she realized Inuyasha had found them already.

She got up and moved to the thin curtain that draped over the door frame and pulled it tenderly aside, stepping out into the moonlight to meet the panting half demon.

"Inuyasha." she greeted casually, allowing the curtain to fall back into place as she stepped clear of the door.

"Kikyo." he replied, dumbfounded and almost questioning her presence. "What… what are you doing here?"

"I was on my way to the next village when I happened upon young Kagome, half dead, and in need of medical attention." Kikyo replied, casually and calmly. "I could not ignore the young girl's cry for help and so took aid to her."

Inuyasha gasped inside as Kikyo told of Kagome's illness.

"I have given her the antidote, and she should recover by dawn tomorrow, if not, there is not much hope of survival."

The boy's eyes widened at this; he could loose her?!

"I believe you can take care of her now Inuyasha." she said boldly, pacing forward and past him. "…the case would be in the middle stages of S.A.R's."  
And with that she took her leave and disappeared into the shadows of the forest beyond.

Inuyasha ran lightly into the hut, careful not to wake the sleeping figure in the centre. A soft expression took his features as he watched Kagome flinch slightly in her slumber; how could this have happened?

Kagome opened her eyes to the warm arms of the morning light shinning through the window of the hut. She blinked weakly as she felt something behind her head. Realizing in short shock that she was resting upon Inuyasha's torso, in between his legs. As her eyes brushed over the boys calm sleeping expression, all embarrassment, anger and wanted violence dispersed. She forgave him for the white lie of Kikyo and the medicinal brew that had saved her twice; he'd done it to help her, and that was all she needed to know.

She settled back down into the warmth of his kimono and the reassuring build of his frame behind her, feeling safe and much better than she ever had before.

-End-

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I do believe I am getting mushier in each story I write…

Hope you enjoyed!

TsukiaiUjigami.


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